Prof. Werner M. Herrmann
Memorial Grant
The sudden passing of Prof. Werner M. Herrmann in May 2002 was a great shock for his friends, colleagues and for everyone who regarded him as a mentor, a sounding board and a sparring partner.
Werner Herrmann was at the foremost a scientist. He was a passionate, dedicated scientist, whose quest for excellence in his field was enhanced by his curiosity, his initiative and his drive. He has made significant contributions to his field through his innumerable publications and lectures and he was one of the founding members in the development of the International Pharmaco EEG Society or the IPEG. He also served as the Main Editor, Pharmacoelectroencephalography for Neuropsychobiology, the official journal of the IPEG.
Since the IPEG symposium promotes the knowledge of recent developments and advanced information of the methodology and applications of neurophysiological research in neuropsychopharmacology, it is our distinct pleasure to take this opportunity to announce that PAREXEL International is offering an Biannual Research Grant of 5000 € (five thousand Euro) in memory of Prof. Werner Herrmann. This grant has been established to encourage research in the field of Neuropsychophysiology. The Grant is offered to the best contribution made by a young researcher at the biannual IPEG symposium. Half of the grant will be awarded to the winner for his contribution (poster or oral communication presented at the meeting) and the other half will be given after acceptance of a manuscript, covering the initial coontribution, for publication in Neuropsychobiology, the journal of the IPEG..
Werner Herrmann was born near Aachen, Germany in 1941. He pursued and completed his medical studies at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-University in Bonn, Germany in 1968 and completed his PhD there in 1969. In 1970 Werner Herrmann became a licensed member of the German Medical Council.
After working as a scientific assistant at the Department of Molecular Biology at the Max-Planck Institute in Göttingen, Germany, Werner Herrmann joined Schering AG in Berlin, Germany in April 1971 as scientific assistant in the Department of Clinical Research. He was given the task of establishing a Research Group for Clinical Neuropsychopharmacology. In January 1972 he was appointed Head of this newly founded section.
From January through December 1973, Werner Herrmann served as Research Fellow at the Department of Psychiatry at the Missouri Institute of Psychiatry, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. While there he also participated in the residency training.
Upon his return to Berlin, and Schering, in January 1974 Werner Herrmann became Head of the Department of Clinical Neuropsychopharmacology and was responsible for Central Nervous System Clinical Research worldwide. Simultaneously he worked at establishing laboratories with electro-psychological methods (psycho experimental test batteries, specific scales for clinical trials, Phase 1).
Werner Herrmann was appointed Head of the Psychiatry and Neurology Branch, Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology at the Institute for Drugs and Medicinal Products (BfArM), Federal Health Office in Berlin in January 1979. In November of that same year he received appointments as Director and Professor and was responsible for new drug applications in Germany in the areas of Psychiatry, Neurology and Gerontology.
Beginning in 1981 he was also a lecturer (Privat-Dozent) at the Free University of Berlin for Clinical/ Experimental Neurophysiology.
In January 1982, Werner Herrmann co-founded AFB Arzneimittelforschung GmbH in Berlin, an independent institute for clinical pharmacology and clinical drug research. He worked as CEO and President for AFB and his numerous responsibilities included Phase I, Phase II and III research and data.
From April 1983 through December 1994 Werner Herrmann was a Visiting Professor of Psychiatry and Member of the Voluntary Faculty at State University of New York at Stony Brook Health Science.
One of the highlights of his distinguished career came in November 1987 when he was appointed Professor of Psychophysiology and Head of the Laboratory of Clinical Psychophysiology, Department of Clinical Psychiatry, Benjamin Franklin Hospital, Free University of Berlin, Germany. This was a full professorship with explicit permission to continue his work at AFB and later PAREXEL. This gave Werner Herrmann the opportunity of combining several of his gifts-research, teaching and his entrepreneurial spirit.
In 1991 AFB was acquired by PAREXEL International, a Contract Research Organization with headquarters in Waltham Massachusetts, USA. Werner Herrmann served PAREXEL with the same dedication he gave all his endeavors as a member of the Board of Directors, as Chief Scientific Officer and as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Clinical Pharmacology. He was also instrumental in establishing PAREXEL’s Clinical Pharmacology International Network. He retired from PAREXEL in June 2001.
In addition Werner Herrmann was board certified as a Doctor of Clinical Pharmacology by the Germany Medical Council in 1990. In 1992 he was appointed Director Interdisciplinary Sleep Clinic, Benjamin Franklin Hospital, Free University of Berlin. In 1998 he became a certified Somnologist and in 2000 a registered member of the British General Medical Council.
For two years, from 1998 to 2000 he also served as member of the Board of Directors, Epidauros AG, a start-up pharmacogenomics company in Bernried, Germany. And as of 1999 he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for 3Clinical Research a pharmageriatrics start-up Contract Research Organization in Henningsdorf, Germany.
The next WHM grant will be awarded at the closing session of the IPEG meeting in Rouffach in 2008. The jury will be composed of Gé Ruigt (IPEG President), RéMy Luthringer (Chair local organization IPEG meeting 2008), Werner Strik (Main Editor Neuropsychobiology) and Marc Jobert (Corporate Vice President, PAREXEL).
2002
Chapotot,
Florian (Oral presentation) Winner
“Distinctive
effects of modafinil and d-amphetamine on the homeostatic and circadian
regulation of the human waking EEG.”
Valle, Marta (Oral
presentation) 2nd Place Tie
“Usefulness of pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling employing EEG as effect
measurement in showing different "in vivo" properties of the benzodiazepine
pathways.”
Riba, Jordin (Oral
presentation) 2nd Place Tie
“Effects of alprazolam on human error detection and correction using
event-related brain potentials.”
van Lier, Hessen
(Poster) 4th Place
“Modulation of hippocampal EEG correlates of open field behaviour by behavioural
transitions in the rat.”
Irisawa-san
(Presentation in a workshop) 5th Place
“Spatial EEG structure in schizophrenia.”
2004
Bouwman, Brigitte (Poster) Winner
“Distinctive
effects of modafinil and d-amphetamine on the homeostatic and circadian
regulation of the human waking EEG.”
Atienza, Mercedes (Oral
presentation) 2nd Place
“Usefulness of pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modeling employing EEG as effect
measurement in showing different "in vivo" properties of the benzodiazepine
pathways.”
Brunovsky, Martin (Poster)
“Changes of
electroencephalographic coherence and cordance in Alzheimer`s disease after the
rivastigmine therapy.”
Mathiak, Klaus (Oral
presentation)
“Modulation of hippocampal EEG correlates of open field behaviour by behavioural
transitions in the rat.”
Von den Broek, Philip (Oral
presentation)
“Spatial EEG structure in schizophrenia.”
2006
Masafumi Yoshimura Winner
"An EEG symptom provocation study in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder"
1996:
MD (cum laude,
Kansai Medical University)
2004: PhD (Thesis, Kansai Medical University: Global Approach to Multi-channel EEG Analysis for Diagnosis and Clinical Evaluation in Mild Alzheimer's Disease
2005: Guest scientist, Department of Psychiatric Neurophysiology, University Hospital of Psychiatry, Bern, Switzerland
2006: Assistant Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan
Akinori Hozumi (poster) Winner
"Effects of levodopa on mid-latency auditory evoked potentials in de novo Parkinson's disease"
Martin Brunovsky (poster) Winner
"Low resolution brain
electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) changes in patients with schizophrenia,
treated by means of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)"
Head of the EEG and sleep laboratory, Prague Psychiatric Center
Ustavni 91, CZ-18103, Czech Republic
E-mail: brunovsky@PCP.LF3.CUNI.CZ or mbrunovsky@seznam.cz
1989-1993 Gymnasium, Stara Lubovna, Slovak Republic
1993-1999 Medical Faculty, University of P.J.Safarik, Kosice, Slovak Republic (M.D.)
1999-2004 Postgradual study in Neuroscience, 3rd
Medical Faculty, Charles University,
Prague (Ph.D.); Thesis: Objective
diagnostics and evaluation of vigilance
changes in dementia.
2002 Neurological Postgraduate Institute –speciality examination and certification in neurology, 1st degree
2006 Czech Ministry of Health – specialized qualification for neurological profession (highest degree)